JOHN LENNON LES PAUL - c3.zzounds.com LENNON LES PAUL John Lennon was always a fan of Charlie...
2
JOHN LENNON LES PAUL John Lennon was always a fan of Charlie Christian, and he also enjoyed tinkering with his guitars. So when he met New York luthier and guitar repairman Ron DeMarino in the early 70’s, he asked him to take his 1950’s Tobacco Sunburst Les Paul Junior and add the pickup made famous by the jazz legend. “We put it in the neck position,” says DeMarino. “Installing the pickup involved extensive routing and major modification to the back of the guitar. We left the Gibson P-90 pickup in the guitar and added a toggle switch wired for pickup selection. When I got the guitar back to John he liked the way it sounded.” Later, at Lennon’s request, he sanded off the ‘burst finish and added the Tune-O-Matic bridge and stop tailpiece. On August 30, 1972, Lennon used his customized Les Paul in its new raw wood state during his famous benefit concert at New York ’s Madison Square Garden. Today, the guitar is on permanent display at the John Lennon Museum in Japan. We are honored to include this musical legend and his Charlie Christian-inspired guitar in our own Gibson Custom Shop Inspired By series.
Transcript of JOHN LENNON LES PAUL - c3.zzounds.com LENNON LES PAUL John Lennon was always a fan of Charlie...
JOHN LENNON LES PAULJohn Lennon was always a fan of Charlie Christian, and he also enjoyed tinkering with his guitars. So when he met New York luthier and guitar repairman Ron DeMarino in the early 70’s, he asked him to take his 1950’s Tobacco Sunburst Les Paul Junior and add the pickup made famous by the jazz legend.
“We put it in the neck position,” says DeMarino. “Installing the pickup involved extensive routing and major modifi cation to the back of the guitar. We left the Gibson P-90 pickup in the guitar and added a toggle switch wired for pickup selection. When I got the guitar back to John he liked the way it sounded.”
Later, at Lennon’s request, he sanded off the ‘burst fi nish and added the Tune-O-Matic bridge and stop tailpiece. On August 30, 1972, Lennon used his customized Les Paul in its new raw wood state during his famous benefi t concert at New York ’s Madison Square Garden.
Today, the guitar is on permanent display at the John Lennon Museum in Japan. We are honored to include this musical legend and his Charlie Christian-inspired guitar in our own Gibson Custom Shop Inspired By series.
www.gibsoncustom.com 1.800.4GIBSON
Body & Hardware:Solid mahogany bodyAged chrome hardwareLightweight aluminum tailpieceTwo thumb wheels on treble side of bridge, one on bassWraparound holes plugged & ABR-1 added; Stopbar moved back3-way Switchcraft switch added to normal Les Paul positioning
Neck & Headstock: 1-piece mahogany neck with long neck tenon22 fret rosewood fi ngerboardPearloid dot inlaysEarly ’50’s rounded neck profi le24 3/4” scale length, 1 11/16” nut widthSchaller tuners
Electronics & Strings: P-90 single coil pickup m bridge position & Charlie Christian pickup in neck positionPickguard modifi ed for Charlie Christian pickup1 volume, 1 tone controlVintage Reissue .010 strings
Includes Custom Shop case, certifi cate of authenticity, custom care kit &signed Lennon print by famed artistAllison Lefcort
Serialized LENNON 001-300
JOHN LENNON LES PAULJohn Lennon. A man known worldwide as an icon, a musician, a poet, the voice of a generation, and one of the most infl uential fi gures in rock ’n’ roll history. Like all great musicians, the guitars Lennon chose to play often seemed to refl ect—even underscore—his ideas, beliefs, and lifestyle. No one can forget the eternal images of Lennon with his Gibson J-160E during the height of Beatlemania, or playing his Epiphone Casino on the rooftop of the Beatles’ Apple headquarters in London. But perhaps the most rebellious and raucous image of them all comes during the tumultuous times of Watergate and Vietnam: Lennon playing his modifi ed Gibson Les Paul Junior at the famous 1972 concert in Madison Square Garden. Icon, musician, poet, hero. John Lennon continues to inspire. We are honored to include him and his amazing guitar in the Gibson Custom Shop Inspired By series.
